Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-12-10
OUR TIN.

| To the Editor Of the Financial News:
Sir-As you haye recently done me
the honor to mention my name rather
prominently in connection with the
Harney Peak Tin Company, | hope yon
will allow me to say few words to
explain the actual position of an enter
prise which appears to be much mis-
understood.
am not one Of those who cayil al
criticism or ignore the duties Of jour
nalsm. The duty of the press is to
instruct the public and possibly your
especial province and self-imposed task
may be to warn the unwary investor ol
the pitfalls that are often SO artfully
prepared for him, But this undertaking
rests on widely different footing Ii
was taken in hand after very careful
investigation by men of business, able
and willing TO carry 1t out without any
appeal to outside investors. These men
showed their faith in the scheme by
offering TO invest substantial sums OF
money, and, so far as know, ever au-
thorized any invitation TO the pu bile to
subscribe.
Then, as regards the actual money re-
quired, YOU have been as much misled, if
YOU will allow me to say SO, as you have
been on other points. The sum required
is el5O0O0 and not E2,000,000 as has
been SO frequently stated and this
el50000 is for working capital only, the
vendors shares, probably deferred, ana
TO be issued pari passu with the growth
I and success of the undertak ing.
| Permit me also TO add that your critl-
| cisms are somewhat premature, as the
| whole scheme is In abeyance pending
| the report Of further searching investl-
gatiou, entrusted to Professor Vincent,
the well-knOwn mining expert, who has
not yet returned from Dakota.
OF course, from the nature of this
thing it was quite impossible it should
not have been attacked, and violently
| attacked, if only on account of the huge
vested interests at stake. 1t represents
| the dawn of Il new era that cannot fail
| to be the most unWelcome to the favored
and very narrow circle that has hitherto
| hand ed, the tin trade Of the world. To
my mind, in place Of there being any
thing strange in this discovery, it is amaz-
| ing ii was not made before. All other
metals have been discovered on the
| vast North American continent under
| circumstances and in quantities hitherto
| unprecedented, and suitable TO the un-
| limited requirements of the future citiz-
ems of the United States. Gold, silver,
| copper, iron-aud now tin-are required
by the American people, and have been
placed by Providence ready 10 there
! hands. No power Oh earth Will make
me believe that all the tin in this world
has been placed on one side of the At
lantic. That tin was not found earlier in
| America is due to two circumstances
first, the American miner had only an
eye for the precious metals In pros
pecting: and, secondly, this tin region
has only quite recently been made
accessible by its exclusion from the
| Sioux Indians reservation. Till quite
lately the Black Hills of Dakota were a
sealed book to the prospector. who could
only visit them not only at the risk, but
with the certainty of being trackc and
scalped by Red Indians. Now all this
! has changed. A thriving city has grown
up within a few miles of Harvey Peak
called Custer City, after General Custer,
who with party of soldiers, was there
massacred by the Indians few years
ago The railway, with drawingroom
ears, now rams through this country
| within 20 miles Of these tin mines. Two
personal English friends of mine have
just visited Harvey Peak to ascertain
| the truth of the statements advanced by
Mr.. Wilson and his friends, and have
assured me of their absolute acCuranCy
| The description my friends send me of
the fertility of the soil, of the mineral
| wealth cropping up on the surface in all
directions and of the gold in the streams,
prove this region to combine all the
attractions of a paradise, and of an
FL Drado. Sitting i'll the comfortable
| office of the existing Harney Peak Tin
Mining Company, these friends of mine
write TO me that they had just received
one of my cables over the telephone
wire that connects them with Rapid
| City, another railway station within an
easy drive of Harvey Peak, which is
thus as civiised and accessible as Mos
| cow or Chicago.
Now, these things are absolutely true
and mdisputable, however unwelcome
| they may be to Cornwall, or to the tin
plate industry of this country. Monop-
oies do not last for ever. Cornwall has
enjoyed hers for 200 years; and it is
only now at last: when tin has reached
a famine price, and not a day too soon,
that new sources of supply have been
discovered. OF course, tin will fall in
| price; to what extent no man can say
! possibly not as much as one might sup
pose. Population grows, requirements
increase, and new uses for the metal will
| doubtless be found.
| have ventured to trouble you with
these reasons for asking YOU, at any rale
to suspend your judgment in this matter
| 1t is new and great undertaking that is
not likely TO be rushed" by the respon-
sible people who have taken it in hand.
We believe in it implicitly, and are not
going to be alarmed by criticism, either
| friendly or the reverse, and whether due
to ignorance, or interested motives
Whether We work Dakota tin or not
matters little to the world at large
That it exists on the surface of the Black
Hills in unlimited quantities, and of
remarkable purity, is proved to our salts
| faction. A fact this magnitude cannot
be suppressed. 1t is a fact that can
afford TO stand alone. and the English
company that has undertaken the busi-
ness does stand alone, and is not built
up upon, or connected with in any way
or shape, any other business organiza-
ton in this country. To develop this
! business in the future immense capital
must be employed, and unlimited capital
will be forthcoming, America will
quarry its own tin-stone out of the Dako-
Ia hill side, will smelt its own ores, will